


Still Water

by ShallowJaney



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - East Slav, Alternate Universe - Office, M/M, Office Party, Reserved Dom, Watercooler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 09:12:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13610181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShallowJaney/pseuds/ShallowJaney
Summary: The men are working together and they're both reserved.Slightly dom!Hux and a couple of double-entendres.





	Still Water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cassiotheia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassiotheia/gifts).



Kylo hurried to his desk, put his headset on and answered the virtual call just in time for the meeting. As soon as he was done greeting, his brow began to furrow. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead silently smashed the desk with one hand, while holding the microphone with the other. He rolled his eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh and said, as calmly as he could:  
"Can I have a question?"  
"This is not what we've discussed. I was supposed to be an Expert, not an intern."  
"I'm not even called a Specialist."  
"I thought you just didn't want to give me the pay that would go to an Expert, many companies hire managers and call them something else to avoid paying them what it's due, but..."  
"...uh huh."  
"But my best tasks are being given away! I thought it was to make room for better ones, but you're leaving me only the simplest. I'm not here to be an intern with basic tasks. I can, have and want to do more!"  
Kylo listened, pursing his lips tighter.  
"Uh-huh..."  
He held the microphone again with his hand and rolled his eyes at what he was hearing.  
"Yes, allright... all-allright, I have to go now." He nodded "Talk to you soon."  
He looked out the window, he had to push the blinds apart as one of his colleagues always drew them completely down. He was trying not to look at him, but he was not in the office for the time being, so Kylo stopped by his desk. On it, there was a sign printed on an A4 sheet of paper saying "Please do not place ANYTHING on this desk." The curly intern chuckled softly, taking it in his hands. He casually went to copy it and tucked it among his stack of old invoices.  
He sat back at his desk, smiling distractedly, when a director yelled across the floor "Everyone gather in the common area! We have a special treat!"  
Though tired of sitting up and down for the past few minutes, Ren went to see what the treat was all about. A few colleagues from the floor were having champagne from single use plastic cups. He looked around for anything else to drink or eat, but couldn't find anything at a glance so he went back. On his way, he stopped to grab some water from the cooler.  
Armitage was nearby, glueing a different sign to the door. Kylo stopped by him with his glass, trying to see what the sign said. The redhead stopped tinkering and slowly turned around, irritated.  
"Can I help you?" then turned back around, mumbling just loud enough to be heard "...not that I would." The sign said "Please close the door every time."  
"Good idea" said Kylo, trying to sound casual.  
Hux turned to the intern again, almost too much in his personal space, looked him up and down and whispered harshly: "You don't need to suck up to me, boy! I'm not a director. And I wouldn't give you a promotion, even if you deserved it!"  
The last sentence made Kylo blush. He hasn't done anything wrong, certainly not to this man. They barely ever spoke. Armitage's gaze fell on the water glass, prompting him to ask "Water? You didn't go get champagne?"  
"Uhh, no" Kylo blushed even further, fixating his eyes on his own glass. "Was there anything else? Was it just the champagne?"  
"I think so" Hux replied flatly. After sharing a brief awkward moment of eye contact, he went on "Well. I wish I could say it was nice talking to you, but..."  
"Yeah... It's ok" mumbled Ren, turning away as quickly as possible.  
"By the way" remembered the redheaded man, "There will also be a party. It's today. The directors forgot to tell us about that. Figures."  
"Of course" smiled the brunet, going back to his work.  
He kept smiling to himself all day, blushing from time to time. Armitage never spoke to him. He didn't remember talking to anyone, for that matter. And was that an invitation? What would he do at a party? Why would either of them go out there in all that noise in the first place?  
These thoughts troubled Kylo for the rest of the day; so much that he barely got any work done.  
He got to the party a little late, wearing the same clothes as during the day. He ran a hand through his curls and stepped inside the disco. Everyone was already there, socializing in their little cliques, getting drunk or dancing on the tables. He grabbed a bottle of still water and tried to mingle.  
He went up to a couple of directors and interrupted whatever important business they were discussing "Hi!"  
"Hey, Ren! How's it goin'?" asked one of them.  
"Oh... I'm fine. I'm fine!" Kylo had to shout to make himself heard. "I had a dream about you. You were showing me around and trying to kill me!"  
"Is that so?" asked the director, everyone suddenly exchanging awkward gazes.  
"Yeah. But it's all good. It wasn't a bad dream" continued Kylo. "Oh well, I'll go mingle some more. Cheers!" shouted the intern and shuffled casually away, looking to get to a more secluded area where he could just finish his bottle and go home. He thought he saw an orange speck on one of the balconies, so he went there. Armitage was watching the city over the railing, not seeming to notice the intruder.  
"Hey..." began Kylo softly.  
Hux turned around less slowly and not looking irritated at all this time. He looked at Ren without much focus and with a faint smile across his lips.  
"I didn't think you'd turn up" he said.  
"I was thinking I won't be seeing you here" replied the other man candidly.  
"Heh" Armitage scoffed. "So that's why you came here? Because you were sure I won't be?"  
"No, no, I..." the brunet drifted off, noticing Armitage's bottle of clear liquid. "Hey, you have water, too?" he smiled widely.  
The other man burst into laughter, patting Kylo almost too hard on the shoulder "Ah man... you... still water?"  
"Yeah, it's still water..."  
"No! I mean... you're still with water? If you'd pardon the pun" he scoffed.  
"Hey, why are you here anyway?" Ren seemed concerned for his colleague and anxious to change the subject.  
"I have to! I'm the event coordinator. If I don't show up they'll replace me with some bimbo... who can't make the difference between... water and vodka. Someone like you!" and with that, he burst into laughter again.  
"Ah, who am I kidding..." he continued. This work sucks. The workplace sucks. Everyone sucks" he suddenly lifted his gaze to Kylo's face, tightening his shoulder grasp. "Not you. At least I haven't seen you sucking. You're always quiet, minding your own business. The rest is garbage!"  
"Come on, Armie, it can't be that bad..." tried the intern to calm him down, blushing once more at the realization he just used a pet name.  
"No, there's no hope for me. I have no perspective... no nothing!"  
"There, there" Kylo was patting Hux on the back.  
"Might as well go back... to my hometown."  
"You can maybe find some good work in a nearby city."  
"In fact, I'm from Tzatzikistan."  
"...I didn't know" Kylo's face had dropped. He was hoping to at least have him near if they wouldn't stay colleagues for long.  
"Yeah" smiled Armitage, "It's a small disputed territory previously under USSR. My family has no means unless I send them money."  
"Are they old?"  
A soft chuckle escaped Armitage's parted lips. He lifted his gaze to meet Kylo's.  
"I have a small daughter."  
"Oh..." Kylo couldn't hide his disappointment and that was precisely why Armitage wanted to see his full expression. Ren managed to collect himself enough to ask softly "Can't her mother provide for her at all?"  
"No, Ren." Armitage said, looking into the distance again. "There is no mother."  
Kylo's heart sank, imagining the worst has happened to her. "I'm sorry I asked, I'm really sorry..."  
"You've no reason. Broke up with the woman!"  
"Was she... did...?" Kylo started and trailed off, shyly hiding his eyes "It's not my place to ask these things."  
Hux smiled again, reaching to gently grab Ren by the chin. The intern was breathing heavily, feeling all blood rushing to his face. He couldn't bring his eyes to meet Armitage, so he closed them, nervously pursing his lips.  
"Let's just say... I'm not into people like her" the redhead's whisper sounded like he was getting closer. The distance between their lips closed and Kylo opened his eyes for a moment, to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't consider it my best work, but then again I've mostly written for myself and it's my first attempt at Kylux. Open to criticisim.  
> Tzatzikistan is not meant to be offensive in any way, this exact name literally came to me in a dream, plus I love tzatziki sauce. Maybe this explains why I had the dream.  
> I tried to incorporate dom!Hux in a classy, mysterious way. He's reserved because he knows he's so awesome, while Kylo still lacks confidence and I wish they'd complete each other this way. I also tried to play a bit with the idea that someone might look like they're shallow water, but then you get to know them and see they're just not revealing everything to you.  
> I haven't included other character cameos because I wasn't sure how you'd like that or how they would glue the miniplot along. I for one love it most of the time (even moreso when it's well done), but would rather not have it overdone and in this case, considering it's quite a short fic, I felt it would have added too much distracting weight to characters that don't really move the story along, instead of ingeniously dropping them as easter eggs. You can fill in any such "gaps" with your imagination though, if you prefer. ^-^


End file.
